Antonín Dvořák, photo: Public Domain
The Cello Concerto in B minor was the last work Antonín Dvořák composed
during his stay in America. Now, more than 100 years later, its manuscript
has returned to its place of origin, going on display at the Czech Centre
in New York. The exhibition is part of a special programme marking the
100th anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia, which will culminate
this Friday with a Dvořák recital at the Bohemian National Hall,
featuring members of the Czech Philharmonic.

I spoke to Barbara Karpetová, head of the Czech Centre in New York about
the upcoming events, but I first asked her to tell me more about the
history of Dvořák’s cello concerto:

“Well, Dvořák was not very enthusiastic about the cello being a solo
instrument. He did not really believe that a cello would be able to carry
the entire concert. Thought it is important to know that cellos at that
time looked very different than today. That might be actually the reason
why Dvořák was not that enthusiastic.

“Later on, he decided he would compose a concerto for cello. He finished
the entire piece here in New Yok, but before he did, his life-long love and
muse Josephina had passed away and he decided to incorporate her favourite
song into the cello concerto.

“Another interesting fact is that he didn’t include cadenza, which is
the equilibristic part of the composition for a soloist. So this cello
concerto is very rare and very special and it is also the most often
performed cello concerto in the world.”

How was it received when it was performed for the first time?

“I think perfectly well, because whoever knows the music knows that it is
really beautiful. It was used as a background music for a variety of films,
one of them being The Witches of Eastwick. So the entire music is really
beautiful and it was performed here in New York in Carnegie Hall, though
not as the premiere.”

Would you say it is equally well-known among the US audiences as for
instance, the Symphony from the New World?

“This is in fact the most common combination for American orchestras.
Quite often American orchestra conceive their programme as a combination of
the Symphony from the New World and the Cello Concerto. Dvořák’s violin
concerto and piano concerto are only played very rarely.”

The cello concerto is already the third Dvorak manuscript to go on display
at the Czech Centre in New York…

Barbara Karpetová, photo: archive of Barbara Karpetová
“Yes, it is. We are really thrilled about that and I am very proud and
thankful to the National Museum that they arranged this third manuscript,
the manuscript which was in fact conceived in New York, sending it after
all of those years (and we are talking about more than 100 years) back to
the place of its birth.

“We had Symphony from the New World, we had Rusalka here in the gallery
of the Czech Centre New York thanks to the fact that there was a new
production of Rusalka at the Metropolitan opera and this time, the Czech
Philharmonic are starting their tour in New York playing two concerts at
Carnegie Hall, one of them being the cello concerto.

“Hence there is this incredible puzzle falling together that Dvořák,
who contributed to the purchase of the Bohemian National Hall, is having
his cello concerto coming again and being viewed by more than 140 VIPs.”

What else, apart from the manuscript itself, is on display at the Czech
Centre in New York?

“It is an entire exhibition focusing on Antonín Dvořák as a composer
who brought to the United States certain ideas about what the national
music should look like.

“We are going to have lectures focusing on that. We are also screening a
film called American Letters to give insight into Dvořák’s intimate
family life and we are having several concerts, one of them being a recital
created by the concerto masters of the Czech Philharmonic.”

Why did you choose Dvořák as one of the main topics of the celebrations
of the centenary of Czechoslovakia?

“Well, Dvořák still remains to be kind of a bridge between the banks of
the Atlantic. He definitely was a crucial ambassador coming from our
country to New York and he left an enormous trace in American cultural life
and obviously in the entire world’s cultural life.

“We are of course collaborating with the Czech Philharmonic on that
theme. So the fact that the Czech Philharmonic is opening their US tour in
here led us to the idea to bring the cello concerto and to have a
month-long project celebrating Dvořák and his music.”

What other events marking the centenary of Czechoslovakia are planned at
the Czech Centre in New York?

“Well, I would say that obviously the most important is the recital I
spoke about. We are going to have here the new chief of the Czech
Philharmonic, Semyon Bychkov. Alisa Weilerstein, the American cellist, will
be playing here and we are also going to have the violinist Josef Špaček
playing a solo and a quartet created of two Czech and two American masters.

Semyon Bychkov, photo: archive of Czech Philharmonic
“We are going to have here as well a person from the Carnegie Hall
archive presenting the programme of that time and one of the lecturers from
Dvořák American Heritage Association. That is the key programme for us
and all the other are kind of contributing to enhance this.

“One of the concerts will be performed by students from the Czech
Conservatory and NUY Steinhardt music department. The programme also
includes the Czech Beer days. A popular drink of Dvořák inspired us to
launch together with embassy a project where the Czech lagers are served in
the Czech pub here in the building together with Dvořák’s favourite
menu.”

How long ahead did you have to plan these events?

“Well, quite a long time ahead. I would say more than a year. It’s
quite a complicated thing to bring the manuscript in and mind you, the
National Museum has a huge event on their hands right now, so it was very
generous on their side to prepare basic materials for us.

“At the same time, the US tour was obviously planned for a very long time
in advance and to coordinate with American PR specialist took quite a long
time too. So I would say maybe one, to one and a half year.”